Review: The quiet side of guitarist Bobby Broom’s art

September 16, 2016

By Howard Reich

Listeners long have savored the music of Chicago guitarist Bobby Broom, but his work never has sounded more intimate than it did Thursday night at the Jazz Showcase.

Leading a trio that reveled in understatement, Broom performed as if leading a session in his living room, the rest of us invited to eavesdrop. Even Broom’s spoken introductions were delivered at something just above a whisper, the musician in every way encouraging his audience to lean in a bit to fully perceive what was happening.

Like many jazz musicians of boomer vintage, Broom has nurtured a love of pop hits from the 1960s and ’70s, and he indulged it on this occasion, in most appealing ways.

From Bam Magazine, this review of the Bobby Broom Organi-Sation concert in Concord, CA earlier this summer:

“Bobby Broom’s Organi-Sation opened the concert just prior to 8pm, while most of the crowd were still ordering from concession stands or finding parking. The New York jazz guitarist has played gigs with legends like Miles Davis, Dr. Lonnie Smith, and Art Blakey. His slow, dreamy interpretation of Clapton’s “Layla,” including the dramatic second section, was pleasantly brilliant.”

Latest review of The Bobby Broom Organi-Sation is in from MusikFest in Bethlehem:

“The Bobby Broom Organi-Sation opened the night, and delivered a brisk 30-minute set… In the all-instrumental set, Broom brilliantly played the phrasing necessary to lay out the framework of the familiar songs, before going somewhere completely new and clearly enjoying the ride as much as any of the seated listeners.”